


Second Chances

by chuulain



Series: High School Adventures [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Art Teacher Moblit, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Eruri Week 2017, F/M, Female Hange Zoë, Fluff and Humor, History Teacher Erwin, M/M, Nightmares, Science Teacher Hanji, Suicidal Thoughts, janitor Levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 17:37:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11764968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuulain/pseuds/chuulain
Summary: Levi had been plagued by nightmares about giant monsters for as long as he could remember. Worst of all were the nightmares where he saw the group he was part of suffer and there was nothing he could do to help. The people from his nightmares didn't leave him alone during the day either. Whenever he thought he recognised someone, he ran after them only to be disappointed. Sleepless nights became more frequent and his study suffered from it so much that he had to drop out. That didn't mean he would give up. Maybe becoming a janitor at a school wasn't his dream job, but he was grateful he at least got a job and was determined to make it a succes. But why did his nightmares have to follow him even there? Those people couldn't be real. Was he losing his mind?





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> For Eruri Week 2017 :) I love Isayama's High School AU and janitor Levi and history teacher Erwin have stolen my heart. Please enjoy!

Levi had been plagued by nightmares for as long as he could remember. Sometimes they were mild. Big trees passing by at high speed, with the ominous feeling that something was out there lurking and lying in wait to grab him. That was definitely scary, but he was grateful for those nightmares because they didn’t even compare in the slightest bit to what else his mind could come up with during his slumber.

There were nights when he woke up screaming and bathing in sweat from what he had witnessed during his nightmares. Giant monsters, that looked like overgrown humans, feasting on other people that his mind came up with. The sound of bones snapping and crushing, the terrified screams of people, and the smell of blood that were still present in his ears and nose once he opened his eyes in utter panic.

But the worst nights were when those people his mind came up with actually had names and faces, screaming for his help and there was nothing he could do to save them. Those people were his friends and they lived together in some sort of castle, together with everyone else that they went outside with into those giant forests. They all wore similar clothing, so he figured they were some kind of group dedicated to fighting those monsters.  

On the rare nights that he didn’t wake up screaming and bathing in sweat, he dreamt of them having peaceful conversations about everything and nothing. Most often a brunette with glasses, named Hanji, was eagerly talking about research. It annoyed him mostly, since he wasn’t so eccentric, but despite that it gave him a feeling of familiarity. A pleasant feeling. There were two others in the room too. A panicked man named Moblit, who tried to calm Hanji down somewhat, but not really succeeding in it, much to Levi’s dismay.

But the final person in the room always left the biggest impression on him. A tall, blond man, named Erwin. He was their leader, from what Levi could understand from his dreams. There was something about this man that made his heart flutter. He would do anything for this man. Anything to keep him alive.

But then why did choose to let him die on a rooftop? Why didn’t he keep him alive? One moment his mind was made up, with some kind of injection in hand and the next he didn’t use it on him. What happened in between that he changed his mind? He didn’t understand at all and every time this scenario came back to haunt him in his dreams it had the same outcome. It broke him eventually. Every nightmare was terrible, but this one was the worst of all. Every time this nightmare occurred, he couldn’t stop screaming and crying and there was severe pain in his heart.

It wouldn’t stop haunting him even during the day hours. Sometimes when he was just out grocery shopping or walking down the streets, he would see the people from his nightmares passing by. He would run after them only to find that it were different people, just having some features in common with them, like the colour of their hair or certain mannerisms. He was left disappointed every time and convinced more and more that he was losing his mind.

His mother couldn’t take it anymore to see him suffer so much from his night terrors and got him professional help when he was fifteen years old. Many talks and different medication were tried, but the results were minimal. The nightmares kept haunting him. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. Because of his nightmares he often didn’t dare to go to sleep anymore and he developed insomnia because of it.

Focussing during the day hours became harder and harder and eventually he was forced to drop his study. Thanks to the lack of sleep he couldn’t concentrate at all and had to let go of his dream of becoming a teacher. Without a degree, he didn’t have many options for a good job sadly. The people who actually gave him a chance had to let go of him because he was often too tired to stay focussed for an entire day and that sadly led to bad results.

Despite all the hardships he still managed to find a job. He got hired as a janitor at the newly build, local high school. He had always been good at cleaning and it came naturally to him. No special focus needed. The principal was extremely pleased with him when Levi managed to clean a spot that was an eyesore. Someone had spilled coffee on the expensive carpet of the principal’s office and many had tried and failed to get the stain out. Even after dry cleaning it was still partly visible.

But Levi had managed to get it out in under ten minutes. He was instantly hired and could start immediately once the school would open its doors for its first year in September. Levi had been really happy about it. Maybe becoming a janitor wasn’t his dream job, but he was glad he at least got a job. There were less fortunate people out there.

He was just a little bit nervous. He didn’t want to fuck this up. Not now that he finally had a job. He wanted to keep this job and make his mother proud. He felt guilty for still living with her because of his misfortune thanks to his nightmares. He knew his mother didn’t mind at all, but still he wanted to at least be able to pay for his own bills after everything she had done for him.

She always supported him, didn’t think he was crazy and had just been concerned for his wellbeing all this time. She hated to see him suffer so much and it pained her that they couldn’t find a cause for his nightmares or find any medication that could block it out. His current medication did help a lot better than anything he had tried so far though. There were even nights where he didn’t have any nightmares or dreams at all and he was beyond grateful for that.

“Oh Levi, I’m so happy for you. It’s going to be fine, don’t worry.” Kuchel told her son, who was anxiously pacing through their living room.

“But what if I’m going to think I see people form my nightmares again?” Honestly he didn’t want to see anyone who looked even the slightest bit like the people from his nightmares, but he knew he couldn’t escape that. That would mean locking himself up and never interact with someone ever again. He didn’t want his nightmares to control his day to day life anymore.

“Then you’re just going to tell yourself that they aren’t real and just continue doing whatever you’re busy with. Look the other way immediately. Don’t stare at them. It’s going to be fine. You’re strong and I believe in you, honey.” She gently cupped his face and it made him stop his anxious pacing.

He nodded at that and took a deep breath. She was right that he could do this. He was in control of his life and not his nightmares. “Thanks, mom.”

She smiled and handed him a lunchbox. “This is probably way better than that stuff they serve at the school. Much healthier too.”

“You forgot cheaper.” That earned him a playful swat to his shoulder.

He had no idea about the school’s lunch prices really, but better to be safe than sorry. Especially because he had to work a month first before getting any salary and he didn’t want his mom to pay for stuff like that. She already paid everything and there was no way he would be ungrateful and spend her hard earned money on unhealthy lunch.

“Come on, off you go now or you will be late. You don’t want to be late on your first day right?” She pushed him towards the door and handed him his coat.

He put his coat on and nodded. She was right. He definitely didn’t want to be late on his first day. Being early was preferable, so he could walk down a relatively quiet hallway and grab his cleaning stuff before it would be crowded with hormonal teenagers.

“Certainly not.” He replied.

“Also try to make some friends, okay?”

He swallowed. He certainly had been unlucky in that department. Any friend he made he didn’t keep long because of his nightmares. They all thought he was weird and it was partly his own fault. He shouldn’t have chased people that looked like people from his nightmares in front of his friends. His mother told him that if they were put off by that then they weren’t real friends and it was probably better not to have them in his life anymore anyway. Eventually those kind of people would have let him fall anyway for another stupid reason.

His love life wasn’t any better. It would be alright for a while until he would stay the night and had a nightmare. All contact was broken every time soon after. It really sucked and he didn’t dare to make friends anymore or start a relationship. He only had his mother, who always supported him. He wouldn’t know what to do if he lost her. But no one lives forever and he knew that’s why she was so adamant on him finding some nice friends. She didn’t want him to be alone.

So he nodded his head, despite not feeling up to it. “I’ll try, mom. Just let me get comfortable with the job first, okay?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Good luck.” She kissed his cheek. “If anything is wrong, don’t hesitate to text or call me.”

He gave her a kiss too and opened the door. “I will. I’m going now. See you around dinner time again.”

“I’ll make your favourite!” She shouted after him as he started walking to the bus stop.

He put his dumb up and waved at her. She truly was a gift. The walk to the bus stop wasn’t a long one luckily. It was just a few streets away and the ride to the school would only last for about fifteen minutes. He was glad the school was built so close to his home. That sure saved a lot of money on public transport. He wanted to save up and get his own place and not spend all his salary on just getting back and forth to work. He knew his mom didn’t mind him living with her at all. She would probably cry buckets when he would, as she liked to call it; leave the nest.

He only had to wait a few minutes before the bus arrived. He got in and found a relatively clean seat and sat himself down. He was glad no one came to sit beside him the entire ride. Maybe it was because he was going early or maybe this route was a quiet one. Whatever it was, it sure helped him feel less nervous and stressed about the day. He really didn’t like cramped spaces.

Once his stop was reached he got out and walked the remaining distance to the school. As he expected it was still really quiet at the school grounds. He didn’t see many students yet. The few he saw were probably future teacher’s pets who wanted to make a good impression by being early. The school doors were already open, but most of the early bird students preferred to stay outside and enjoy the good weather.

Fine by him, cause that meant he could make his way towards the supply closet undisturbed and get his cleaning stuff ready. But first he went to put his coat and bag away in his office. Yes, even the janitor got an office at this school. Smaller than those of the teachers, but he was still grateful for it; a place for himself. If he didn’t get along with anyone then he could just have some peace and quiet here during his breaks. He just hoped all these kids were not a bunch of little delinquent fucks, who loved clogging the toilets and throwing wet paper to the ceiling. He would not rest until he found the ones responsible and make them pay.

But he supposed there wouldn’t be any disasters on the first day. He would most likely remove the dust that had gathered in the building over the last week. He was informed that most of the furniture got placed at the latest moment possible to avoid unnecessary cleaning. Levi could appreciate that kind of mind set. Not that he minded dusting all the furniture, but that time could be better spent on cleaning more urgent things.

He had a basic schedule of which things needed to be cleaned on which day and he was perfectly fine with that. Routine was good for him, cause it meant less anxiety and stress. He supposed if nothing out of the ordinary happened then he could probably make a start on some things of the next day already. That would probably make a good impression too. He really wanted to keep this job and everyone appreciated someone who would do just that little bit extra, right?

He made his way over to the supply closet to start the day, since it was almost time and he didn’t want to push through a crowd of teens to get there. Once he arrived there he grabbed everything he needed and made his way towards the cafeteria once the first bell echoed through the hallways. He stuck close to the walls to avoid being trampled by all the brats, making their way to their first class.

It gave him mixed feelings, cause he could have been waiting for those kids inside one of those classrooms to teach them. But he really should stop feeling sorry for himself and get on with his job. He couldn’t change the fact that his nightmares had fucked up his life, but that didn’t mean that he would lock himself up in his room and feel sorry for himself. No, he would make the best out of it. He wouldn’t let those nightmares control his whole life anymore.

He was about to enter the cafeteria when a blur of brown hair ran past him, frantically yelling about how she was going to be late. It made shivers run down his spine, cause the voice sounded eerily similar to the person named Hanji from his nightmares. Not to mention this person also had brown hair. He couldn’t help himself and turned to look in the direction she ran off to. He could still make out the unruly mop of brown hair in the distance.

He opened his mouth to call out to her, but quickly closed it again cause of the memories of disappointment flashing through his mind. How many times had he thought that someone from his nightmares appeared in the real world and made a fool out of himself? He surely didn’t need the students spreading rumours about him that he was some kind of freak, calling after female teachers. Next thing he knew he would be fired for harassment or something.

“Fuck…” He breathed. This sure shook him up and he hadn’t even started actually doing any work yet. “Come on, Ackerman. You’re stronger than this shit. Don’t let it get to you.” He told himself half-heartedly.

He sure as hell didn’t want this to fuck him up so bad, but here he was, shaking on his legs as if he had just seen a ghost. Worst thing was that he didn’t even dare to go into the staffroom during his breaks, in fear of seeing this woman again. They would all think he was nuts for staring at her wide-eyed.

“Great. Just fucking great.” He muttered under his breath. How could he even attempt to make any friends among the staff if this fucked him up so badly?

He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even realise that he had been standing here for five minutes already, until his eyes fell on the big clock above the cafeteria entrance. The hallways were completely deserted now. He quickly composed himself and got inside of the cafeteria before anyone would notice him spacing out and accuse him of slacking off on the job.

He wondered how these damn brats already managed to make such a mess of this place before the day had even started. For some of them it was clearly too much trouble to even put their trash into the trashcans. He sighed and started taking the mess left behind on the tables and put it in the trashcans. Then he wiped all the tables clean, put new bags in the trashcans, swept the floors, and then mopped them too for good measure. He couldn’t help but to take a picture with his phone of his job well done.

He would send it to his mother later during his break to let her know that he was doing fine. He didn’t think that he would mention seeing someone that looked like the Hanji person from his nightmares. He hadn’t called after her after all. He hadn’t fucked up and made a fool out of himself. No need to worry her for nothing. Getting on with his job right now was the best thing he could do to quickly forget his almost fuck up.

Next on the list was the staffroom and he was grateful that it was empty right now so he wouldn’t run into that woman. Thankfully the teachers weren’t as messy as the damn brats. Someone had forgotten to throw their empty cup into the trashcan, but that was about it. He quickly disposed of it and then started wiping the table. After that he vacuumed the place and it looked as good as new. Well it was new of course, but he wanted it to stay that way. School budget could be used for better things than replacing carpet and furniture.

He cleaned up some more and then it was time for lunchbreak. He didn’t feel comfortable yet with going to the staff room, so he went to eat in his office instead. No one would probably notice his absence during lunch. Most teachers would probably be so busy with eating and getting to know each other that they would forget they even had a janitor anyway. But he couldn’t hide forever in his office he supposed. Eventually they would notice his absence and that would either make them not care or spread weird rumours about him. He really had to stop getting so worked up over seeing people who resembled the people from his nightmares. He didn’t want it to ruin his life anymore.

But that would be easier said than done of course. He had been unsuccessfully dealing with this shit for the majority of his life. He would give anything to make those nightmares stop. He didn’t care about a well-paying job anymore. He was perfectly fine with this janitor job now and he would fight tooth and nail to keep it. He just had to be stronger than those nightmares, just have a passive face and pretend none of these people looked like the people from his nightmares. As long as he could keep his terrors inside and not blurt them out then everything would be fine.

Once his lunchbreak was over he headed back to the cafeteria again to clean up the mess the students had made during their own lunchbreak. Mess was a big understatement though. To Levi it looked like a battlefield.

“Those little shits…” He muttered as he started dumping everything into the trashcans. He really had to ask the principal if he would be allowed to scold the kids for this kind of shit.

School was a place for education after all and these damn brats surely needed to be educated in cleaning up after themselves. Once this place was clean he would see if the principal had a few spare minutes to discuss this, so he repeated the process of earlier and then made his way there. He knocked on the door and was granted permission to enter.

Darius Zackly, a man with grey hair and a beard, looked up from his computer once Levi closed the door behind him. “Ah, Levi it’s you. Is everything going fine? No trouble I hope?”

“Everything is fine, sir. I was just wondering if it’s okay for me to lecture the students about hygiene. The mess they made of the cafeteria is quite shocking. I don’t mind cleaning it up, that’s what I’m being paid for after all, but a school is a learning place, right? Isn’t this important too to turn them into responsible members of society?” He had nothing to lose by asking this, he supposed.

Zackly folded his hands and placed them under his chin, thinking about Levi’s proposal. “You make an excellent point. If they’re already terrorising the cafeteria then it might be just a matter of time before one of them thinks it’s a nice idea to put graffiti on the school walls.”

“Or everything will be littered in chewing gum. Both are a pain to remove. Not to mention you need expensive equipment to remove both properly.” He was more than pleased that Zackly took him seriously.

“You’re absolutely right. The sooner they’re shown that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated the better. I will make an announcement later that will forbid chewing gum at school.”

Levi nodded at that with a smile. Hearing Zackly say that made it almost feel like Christmas. “If I catch anyone breaking the rules, what should I do?”

“You can make them clean up their own mess first and then send them to me for detention. Also you’re free to lecture them about any other unruly behaviour. As a janitor you often see things that the teachers don’t.”

“Like what?” Levi wondered.

“Running in the hallways, hanging out in the hallways during class, you know, things like that.” Zackly pointed out. “I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m glad I hired you. If you ever have any other good input then don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“Thank you, sir. I will see to it.” Levi promised. “I’ll get back to work now then. Thank you for your time.”

“No, thank you for your input.” Zackly nodded appreciatively at him. “I haven’t seen you at lunch. What were you doing?”

Shit. He sure as hell didn’t expect that question. He didn’t think that his absence would be noticed. “I had to make a phone call. Dentist appointment. I didn’t know how loud it would be in the staffroom and I prefer to make a phone call somewhere quiet, so I went to my office. Took a while before they picked up too, so it really wasn’t worthwhile anymore to go to the staffroom after that.” He thanked his brain for coming up with that quickly. He planned to call the dentist anyway and schedule an appointment when he was free, so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice any salary.

“Ah, those things can be a real pain. I’m counting on you being there tomorrow though. You’re behind on introductions now and I think it’s important to get to know everyone.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll be there tomorrow for sure.” Well shit, there was no way of getting out of it tomorrow. He just had to take something that would keep the anxiety under control then.

“Excellent. Well let’s get back to work now.”

Levi nodded and closed the door behind him and sighed. That went almost perfect. Sadly his absence during lunch was noticed after all. He would just find a spot that wouldn’t put all the focus on him. Somewhere at the end of the table or something and as far away as possible from that woman.

 _Better get back to work now. Those toilets won’t clean themselves._ He made his way over to the ground floor toilets and to his relief it wasn’t such a mess as the cafeteria.

There were some paper towels on the floor and some spilled soap, but apart from that it all looked pretty decent. He would have to check regularly if the trashcans were full or else the floor would be full of paper towels though. After cleaning up the ground floor toilets, he made his way up to the other floors and they all looked pretty decent too.

After being done with that he went outside to clean up the schoolyard. Quite a few students had chosen to spend their lunchbreak outside with the good weather, so that meant there would be plenty to clean up here too. At least it wasn’t as bad as the cafeteria he supposed. He mostly had to sweep and change the bags in the trashcans.

He was so focused on doing his job that he almost didn’t hear the voices coming from the grass field connected to the schoolyard. Were some of the students skipping class? If so then he would give them a good scolding and send them to Zackly. He started making his way over there, but then stopped in his tracks when he noticed the amount of students gathered there. Surely they wouldn’t all be skipping class, right?

Upon closer inspection he noticed they were all carrying a canvas and an easel. _Oh, they’re having art class outside. They’re probably going to paint nature or something._

Well that saved him from having to scold many brats and escorting them to Zackly. He didn’t particularly like going to the man either. There was something weird about him that he couldn’t place. His name sounded really familiar somehow. Had they met somewhere before? Probably not, cause Zackly didn’t seem to be familiar with him either. He probably just had one of those really common looking faces. Nothing to worry about.

He couldn’t help but to keep looking in the direction of the kids as they all placed their easels and canvasses on their desired spots and waited for their teacher to start explaining what their assignment would be. He envied them a little. They were outside to paint and he was cleaning up.

He could see some girls whispering and blushing and stealing glances at their teacher. Apparently they thought he was kind of cute then. He couldn’t help but to finally look into the direction of the teacher as well, curious too now about his looks. He could only see him from behind, so he couldn’t really judge his looks. His sweeping took him a little closer though, so he could hear what the art teacher was telling them to do.

Once again shivers ran down his spine as he heard the art teacher talking. It sounded just like the man named Moblit from his nightmares. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t. But the brown hair matched too, just like his height. Also being an art teacher suited him as he had seen Moblit showing sketches in his nightmares. Now that he thought of it the woman that reminded him of Hanji was wearing a lab coat, so she’s probably teaching science. That also suited her, as she did research on those giant manlike monsters that they fought against in his nightmares.

Was he losing his mind? Was he so lonely that his mind kept projecting those people so that he could pretend that they were real? Had he always wished for them to be real because of his loneliness? That thought really frightened him. He just wished for this to stop, to leave him alone and stop haunting him.

He just wished he could tell those nightmares to fuck off, that he was stronger than them and that he could just walk up to that art teacher and introduce himself. But maybe that wouldn’t be fair to that art teacher. He would only try to make friends then because he reminded him of Moblit. He sure wouldn’t appreciate it either if someone made friends with him just to use him as a replacement for someone else, to fill up a void.

He hated his life so, so much. If it wasn’t for his mother, who always supported him, he probably would have jumped off of a building already. He never shared those dark thoughts with her, cause he didn’t want to make her worry even more. But he was so afraid that he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anymore between his nightmares and reality, that it might one day become too much to bear, and he seriously hoped that if that ever happened then his mother wouldn’t be alive anymore to identify his broken and mangled corpse.

He just had to get on with his job, he supposed, and turn his back towards the art class, cause it only made him feel worse about himself. Hanji and Moblit only existed in his nightmares and he had to accept that. So with a heavy heart he picked up the trash bags and made his way over to the waste container to throw them in. Once he was done with that he went back inside to do some more cleaning and have a short break.

He just had a snack in his office, along with something to drink and then he went back to work, the positivity that he started this day with now completely gone. Just a few more hours then this day would be over and he could enjoy his mother’s cooking. Hopefully that would cheer him up a bit. It would be hard to hide his sad mood from her though. She always noticed when he was feeling down and she wouldn’t let it go until he told her what happened to him that made him feel so sad. Well maybe it would help talking about it, but he also knew that it would worry her if he told her what he saw today. She wouldn’t be able to send him off to the bus stop anymore with a smile on her face.

That would be worries for later, as for now he still had a lot of cleaning to do. He cleaned up the cafeteria for the final time today and then went to clean the toilets again and then went back to the storage to get more trash bags and some clean dusters.

A few minutes before the final bell would chime Zackly made an announcement about Levi’s suggestions. At least something went right today, he supposed. Then the bell chimed and all students stormed out of their classrooms, towards their lockers and then left the school. The day wasn’t over for him yet though, as he still had to change the trash bags in the classrooms and check if there wasn’t anything else that needed clean up before he could leave.

He was glad that most classrooms were still looking pretty clean, so all he had to do was change the trash bags, sweep the floors a bit and wipe the tables. To anyone else that probably still sounded like a lot, but he was used to cleaning, having learned all kind of time saving methods to finish things quickly and thoroughly.

There was only one room left to clean and then he could go home. The sign next to the door read history, so there was no doubt what would be taught in there. The classroom was nearly spotless still and it made him wonder if the teacher was a strict, old man. Fine to him really, cause that would save him a lot of time on his cleaning.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the door opening behind him.

“Oh, I’m sorry to disturb you in your work.” A voice spoke from behind him, upon noticing him. “I was just wondering if I left my notes here. They’re really important and I hope you didn’t throw them away yet.”

Levi ceased all movement the moment he heard that voice. The broom he was holding, slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the floor.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” The voice said in apology.

His whole body started shaking, his head was spinning and his throat became so dry that he could hardly swallow down the distress he was feeling. Was he losing his mind finally?

The owner of the voice, a tall, blond man became really worried when he didn’t get a response and saw the short janitor shaking on the spot. He walked over to him and made him look at him. “Hey, are you alright?”

Upon locking eyes with the owner of the voice, vivid images started to flash before his eyes. More images from his nightmares, rapidly forcing their way into his mind. He was staring into the blue eyes of the man named Erwin from his nightmares.

What he had been so afraid of all this time had finally become a reality. He no longer could separate nightmares from reality. He was going insane. He had to get away from here and fast. He pushed the blond man away from him and started running towards his office. He could just calm down there and then go home, take some medication and try to forget about this awful day.

His legs carried him there fast and he quickly locked the door behind him and sank to the floor. “Fuck… It can’t be real. He can’t be real.”

He was startled from his thoughts by banging on the door. “Hey, please open the door!”

He shivered violently upon hearing that voice again. “Go away! You’re not real! Please, just leave me alone!” He sobbed, no longer able to keep his emotions from spilling out.

“But-”

“Stop torturing me! Just l-leave me a-alone…” He cried and held his head, he could hardly breathe anymore. “Please… l-l-leave m-m-me alone, p-please…”

The blond man was taken aback from the emotional outburst, but he wouldn’t let it stop him. “I’m not leaving you alone. When our eyes locked I saw another you and even though there’s still a lot flashing before my eyes, I know you’re the same person. I don’t know if you believe in past lives and reincarnation, but I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re both experiencing here.”

He still wouldn’t listen to the man. After years of nightmares, he couldn’t just believe this man. For all he knew he was just playing along with his delusions, so that he would open the door and then get escorted to an asylum to spend the rest of his miserable life there. “Stop haunting me! Leave me the fuck alone, you lying bastard!”

It was silent then for a good two minutes and Levi thought that maybe, just maybe for once in his life, whatever deity was out there, granted him peace. Of course he wasn’t that lucky, cause he could hear the man scraping his throat.

“I’m sorry if I have wronged you so much in that life that you want nothing to do with me anymore. But please believe me when I say that I’m grateful for everything you did for me there, including letting me rest. Thank you, Levi.”

Upon hearing those words the missing pieces from the roof came back to him and he understood. He understood why he had chosen to let Erwin die. Out of love, cause the world didn’t deserve him, so he chose Erwin’s well-being above the fate of mankind. The man on the other side of the door couldn’t possibly know his name and thank him if he was lying.

“Erwin…? Is that really you?” He just had to hear the confirmation that he wasn’t losing his mind.

“Yes, Levi. It’s really me, Erwin Smith.” Erwin said with full conviction.

Levi could hardly believe his ears. Erwin Smith, the man he offered up his heart to in his nightmares, was on the other side of the door. Said nightmares turned out to be memories instead from a different life. Everything made sense now. He wasn’t crazy after all. He would only consider himself crazy if he didn’t get up quickly and throw that door open and embrace Erwin. So that’s what he did and he clung onto Erwin for dear life with tears streaming down his face.

Erwin held onto him tightly too, rubbing his back and saying soothing words. “ Seems like this life also hasn’t treated you kindly, Levi.” Levi just sobbed and Erwin took that as a yes. “I’m sorry, I wish this life would have treated you kindly.”

Levi sobbed some more, but after a while he managed to calm himself down. There was no need to cry anymore, right? He had found Erwin, figured out that his nightmares are actually memories, and that’s he’s not crazy. “It’s okay. I would endure anything just to see you once more. I can still hardly believe that you’re solid and real, instead of a nightmare.”

Erwin frowned at that, slightly confused. “You had nightmares about our previous life?” He received a nod. “I didn’t. Nor did I remember anything at all until I locked eyes with you. That must have been the trigger for me to get my memories. Did you get any additional memories when you looked at me?”

“Yeah, a lot of missing pieces fell into place when I locked eyes with you. I didn’t understand a lot from my nightmares, but now I think I understand most of it. At least the important things. There are still memories coming back as we speak.” It was getting exhausting if he was being honest. It was not like those memories were all happy ones. Most of them were draining. For Erwin it was probably worse, cause he had no memories before their fateful encounter.

“It’s a lot to take in. There are many painful things, but also some good memories. Like the times we spend together and with our friends and comrades. Have you seen anyone else from our previous life? How about your mother? Is she alive?” He hoped with all his heart for Levi that he had his mother and that he didn’t have to grow up in an orphanage.

Levi nodded in agreement. “I have my mother, thank God. Without her I don’t think I would be standing here today. Those nightmares drove me insane and no one would try to understand except her. She never let me down. Outside of her I’ve seen Zackly. Neither of them ever triggered anything like it did with you though. How about your father? Is he alive?”

“I’m truly happy for you that you have your mother. My father is alive too and so is my mother. I’ve seen Zackly too, yes. Neither of them triggered any memories with me.”

“Weird, but I’m glad you have your parents. Especially your father after everything that happened in our previous life. But I really hope you can stop blaming yourself for that. You were just a child with good intentions.” He placed a hand on Erwin’s shoulder, noticing that he still didn’t feel completely at ease with that part of his previous life. It was understandable though, cause he just got all those memories back.

“I suppose you’re right. I just need some time to let it all sink in. I hope we can find other people from that life as well. We can’t be the only ones with a second life, right?” There were many people he wanted to see again. Especially those he was close with.

Levi looked thoughtful at that. Now that he thought of it the idea of him having actually seen Hanji and Moblit after all made a lot more sense now. “I think I’ve seen Hanji and Moblit here at school, but I didn’t approach them cause I thought I was losing my mind.”

Erwin looked surprised for a moment, but then he smiled. “That would be wonderful. We should definitely try to find them tomorrow. They probably went home now already.”

“But what if they don’t recognise us? I mean Zackly didn’t recognise me and I didn’t feel anything towards him either when I first met him. Maybe it’s because he’s not someone important to me. Maybe that’s the trigger that is needed to regain your memories.” He didn’t mind Zackly not having any memories. The man was kind of a creep and he looked way more decent now and he liked to keep it that way.

That made Erwin think for a while. Levi’s theory just didn’t add up to him. “It doesn’t explain why our parents don’t have any memories. They’re really important to us too and it sure would have helped you if your mother also had her memories.”

“You’re right. Maybe it just works different for everyone. Or maybe fate is cruel and we’re the only ones who got our memories back.” Levi sighed at his own words. He didn’t want to be so pessimistic, but aside from them no one seemed to have memories.

Erwin couldn’t help but to look a little sad at that too. Still though, he wanted to see if anyone else had their memories. “We could at least try talking to Hanji and Moblit to see if they remember anything. Or try to help them remember.”

“But maybe it’s cruel to make them remember. I mean they might have perfectly happy lives now without their memories. Who knows maybe we could have done fine without our memories and just met in your classroom and then became friends and all.” Honestly forcing someone to remember didn’t sit well with him at all.

“Maybe, but even still our past lives are connected to our current lives. Because of our previous lives we were meant to find each other. With or without memories. Not to mention for you it’s good, cause now you know you’re not crazy. I truly think that our memories are a vital part of us. Would we even be here in this life if it wasn’t for our previous life?” He didn’t know the answer to his own question, but he believed in fate. It was fate that brought them together in their previous life after all.

Levi hoped Erwin was right. It didn’t make much sense to him at all and Erwin’s reasoning sounded pretty solid. “You could be right. You always were right back then, but these are questions that no one truly has an answer to, I suppose. So we’ll just have to make the best of it. I truly wish we can be friends again with Hanji and Moblit. If they don’t have any memories we can probably still be friends. Deep down we’re still the same people after all.”

“Exactly!” Erwin beamed a happy smile at him.

Seeing Erwin smile like that made his heart flutter. He was still in love with him then. He never had a chance to confess his feelings in their past lives. It just wasn’t a good idea, cause they lived with the constant knowledge that any day could easily be their last in that godforsaken world. But now he didn’t have to worry about titans or people playing cruel games to rip Erwin away from him. Of course he wasn’t naïve and knew that this world wasn’t free of danger either, but compared to that hell this was paradise.

“Erwin… I’ve wanted to tell you something for a long time. I couldn’t tell you in our past life, but now I think I can. I don’t know how you will react, but I just have to tell you. I’m in love with you, Erwin. I’ve been in love with you for a very long time.” He hoped Erwin would return his feelings, but even if he didn’t then he would be fine with just having him as a friend.

Erwin looked stunned for a moment, but then smiled softly at Levi. “Oh, Levi. I never dared to hope for this. I always told myself that I didn’t deserve love, because I had to send people to their deaths and knew deep down that I probably wouldn’t grow old either. I was always happy with you at my side and I didn’t dare to ask more of you, but I always loved you, so hearing you say you love me fills me with joy.”

Hearing that made Levi smile too. He couldn’t remember the last time he genuinely smiled like this, but for now he didn’t care. He only cared about one thing at the moment. “Kiss me.” He breathed.

Erwin didn’t need to be told twice. He gently cupped Levi’s face and brought his lips to his. The kiss started out slow and tender, but with every passing second they kissed more like their lives depended on it or that they didn’t have another chance to kiss each other. Well they did have to wait a lifetime for this, so there was a little desperation in their kiss. It felt great however, and when they parted for air they both smiled at each other.

“You make me so happy, Erwin. You have no idea. After all the hell I went through cause of my nightmares I almost gave up hope on finding happiness. Because I lost so much sleep I couldn’t perform well in school and had to drop my studies and couldn’t get a good job, so that’s why I’m a janitor now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But if you’re still as good at cleaning as you were then at least it’s not such a hellish job for you, right?” He received a nod at that. “I’m going to make sure that you will stay happy from now on. Don’t worry about money either, cause I’m serious about you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I earn enough to provide for us both. If you ever want to pick up your studies again that’s fine too. I will happily provide the money you need for that.”

“Thank you, really thank you. But I think I’m fine for now with being a janitor. As you said I still enjoy cleaning, so it’s not bad.” Really it wasn’t bad and he doubted anyone else could keep the school as clean as him.

“As long as you’re happy, Levi. That’s all I care about.” He smiled at the short janitor and then looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well the school day is over, but that doesn’t mean we have to part ways already. I mean after all this time we’ve been reunited and to make it better; you’re my boyfriend now.”

Levi couldn’t help but blush at hearing Erwin say that. They were by no means an ordinary couple, who probably went on dates first before making it official, but he didn’t give a fuck. He was supposed to try and make friends, but he ended up with a boyfriend on day one. What would his mother say about that? Now that he thought about her, wasn’t there something she had told him? “Shit, shit, shit, shit!”

“What’s wrong, Levi?” Erwin wondered what caused the sudden change in mood. He didn’t think that he said anything wrong.

“My mother would make me my favourite meal to celebrate my first work day, but it’s already way later than I told her I would probably be home.” He frantically fished his phone out of his pocket and noticed he had five missed calls and eight messages. “Well fuck, I got her worried. I’m never going to hear the end of this. She’s such a worrywart.”

Erwin glanced at Levi’s phone screen and he couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Well I think you secretly like that about her.”

He wanted to swat Erwin for that, cause it was a bit embarrassing. On the other hand it was nice to see Erwin still had his dorky side. He would probably be the victim of embarrassing dad jokes for the rest of his life too, but he didn’t mind that. As long as Erwin could be carefree and happy then he was happy too.

Now he just had to figure out how to solve his minor dilemma. He didn’t want to disappoint his mother. She was probably working hard on the meal right now and he didn’t want to be ungrateful. On the other hand he also wanted to spend time with Erwin. His mother would probably ask all sorts of weird questions if he would bring Erwin along with him. She was no fool and even though she didn’t seem to have any memories of her past life she would probably notice immediately that something weird was going on.

But telling her that after dinner he would go out with a friend probably wouldn’t work either. He would probably blush madly and she always knew when he was lying. Would she believe him if he told her about their past lives? She always believed he wasn’t crazy because of his nightmares. Was that motherly love or was there more to it? It always felt like she understood everything he told her as if she had seen it herself. But that couldn’t be it, right? Unless after her death she was able to watch over him.

“Erwin, I would like you to come along with me to have dinner if my mom is fine with it. I can’t really explain it, but it’s like she subconsciously knows more than that she is aware of consciously.” He was taking a gamble with this, but hadn’t they always done that in the past? Old habits die hard, he supposed.

The blond smiled at that and nodded. “I would love to and maybe you’re right about that. Now that I think of it my father has subconsciously also mentioned things of our previous life. He’s a teacher too in this life and sometimes he used to tell me to make my homework and I teasingly replied that he’s not my teacher. He looked at me a bit confused before saying that I was right.”

“Hearing you say that makes me more confident in bringing you home with me. I’ll give my mother a call and see what she thinks about it.”

So he gave his mother a call and after getting a scolding because he worried her, she quickly lightened up when Levi told her it was because he met someone at school and they kind of forgot the time. She was overjoyed when Levi mentioned it was more than just a friend he made. He figured his mother was just as weird as him, not even wondering where this sudden romance came from. Levi just told her he would try to explain once he got home and so they hurried to Levi’s home.

Before Levi had the chance to grab his keys and open the door, his mother already flung it open with a smile on her face. She looked Erwin up and down and nodded approvingly. “So you’re the man who stole my son’s heart.”

“Mom! Could you not?” He should have known she would embarrass the hell out of him. Why did he think this was a good idea again?

Erwin just smiled politely at her and shook her hand. “Guilty. I’m Erwin Smith. I can see who Levi got his good looks from. If I didn’t know you’re his mother, I would have sworn you’re his sister.”

Kuchel blushed at that and elbowed her son, not so discreetly, and whispered that he’s a keeper.

Levi on the other hand didn’t know how to react to that. Of fucking course Erwin was still as smooth as ever. How he was going to survive this evening was beyond him. He would be turned into a puddle of embarrassment by the both of them. “If you two are done with embarrassing me, then maybe we could start dinner?”

Both Kuchel and Erwin looked slightly apologetic at him and nodded. Levi showed where Erwin could leave his coat and then they both took a seat at the table as Kuchel served them their food.

“Mom, thank you for the food. It’s delicious.” Levi said, grateful as ever.

Erwin nodded in agreement. “It’s really amazing. Could you learn me the recipe sometime? I want to provide for Levi as best as I can.”

“Erwiiiiin… Even if your cooking would be shit I would still love you and I can cook too. Don’t worry about little things like that.”

Kuchel smiled at them both. “Sure, I can teach you Erwin. It’s amazing that even though you just met, you’re already so in love and bickering like an old married couple. It’s like you’ve known each other for years.”

Levi swallowed at that. He knew she would notice. Even though she hadn’t said anything about it being too soon for them to be a couple in less than a day, she still had her questions of course. “Well, you see, about that…”

Levi explained everything about his nightmares actually being memories and how Erwin made him realise that. Kuchel listened intently to him and didn’t interrupt him. Levi wondered if that was a good or bad sign. He just hoped she didn’t think he was projecting his nightmares on Erwin and that Erwin played along with him either out of pity or he just wanted an easy way to get into Levi’s pants.

“So what you’re saying is the moment you locked eyes, everything fell into place? There’s no room for doubt?” She couldn’t help but be protective of Levi. She didn’t want him to be used or get his heart broken.

“Erwin knows things without me telling him. Things that happened in my nightmares, so I’m absolutely confident that reincarnation exists and we were meant to find each other again.” He knew she only asked him to be sure, because she loves him. He would probably be shocked if she just took everything for granted.

Kuchel smiled softly at him then and took his hand. “I believe you, Levi. I’m really happy for you both.”

Relief washed over him then. He was so happy to hear her say that, that he hugged her tight. “Thank you, mom. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.” She hugged him back and then let go of him again, seemingly lost in thought.

“You alright, mom?” Levi couldn’t help but ask. It was a lot to take in after all.

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry. I was just wondering if I was your mother too in that life.”

Oh. Of course that question would come sooner or later. Of course she was curious cause nothing seemed to trigger her memories. “Yes, you were. Sadly I lost you when I was still a small child. We lived in a place called the Underground. All the poor people lived there and we were among the poorest. You… worked in a brothel and ended up getting pregnant with me. I can’t remember much cause I was so young then, but you ended up getting sick and didn’t get better.”

“But w-who took c-c-care of you then when I was gone?” Her big worried eyes stared right into Levi’s soul.

Fuck, just fuck. She didn’t even care about her own terrible fate. All she could think of was him and if he would be alright. “God, mom… You really are the best mother I could have wished for. In this life and the previous. All you ever think about is me.”

“Of course. A mother always places her child above all else. You will understand that when you and Erwin have children of your own.” She had a mischievous smile upon her face and that only grew wider as she saw both of them getting flustered.

“Mom, please…” He was definitely becoming that puddle now. “As for your question, your shitty brother found me and took care of me until I could fend for myself and then he left me.”

“Well, that sure sounds like Kenny. We haven’t seen him in months. But maybe it’s time we move on to happier conversation. Or maybe you two want to have some privacy? You must have a lot to talk about.” She got up from the table and brought the empty plates to the sink.

Erwin got up too and helped her clean the table. “We have, but it wouldn’t sit well with me to leave you with all these dirty plates.”

“Yeah, we can spare those ten minutes. You cooked for us so let us do something back. Why don’t you sit down and relax and let us do the dishes?” Levi suggested as he pushed her towards the living room.

Kuchel briefly wondered if her son had ulterior motives, but she supposed he was just happy that she was so understanding about everything, so she let the boys to it as she plopped down on the couch and tuned in on one of her favourite shows.

Levi started scrubbing the plates and Erwin would dry them off, claiming Erwin wouldn’t be able to get them clean enough. Erwin just laughed at that, shaking his head, mentioning some things never changed. After they were done and everything was put back in the cupboards, they just stood there awkwardly wondering what to do next. Levi just couldn’t fully focus on Erwin with his mom around, but didn’t want to just ditch her.

Luckily for Levi his mother was very observant and noticed the awkward air surrounding the boys. “Why don’t you two go out or something? It’s still early and I’m hooked on this show anyway.”

“If you don’t mind. We haven’t really thought of anything though.” Levi wanted to spend time with Erwin, but going out in public wouldn’t grant them much privacy.

“Why don’t we go to my house and maybe watch a movie or something?” Erwin suggested. “Maybe stay the night as well?”

Levi had no objections to that. He only told Erwin to wait a few minutes so he could grab his toothbrush and clean clothes for tomorrow. His mother didn’t have any objections either. Not that she could tell him what to do, but he rather didn’t argue with her. She could be scary as fuck then. With everything packed he gave her a goodbye kiss.

She pulled him into a hug and smiled. “Remember to do it safely.”

“Mom!” He hissed. He didn’t need to hear that from her. Not now, not ever. As if they would discard all of their clothes the moment they entered Erwin’s apartment. He wanted to take it slow. He could see Erwin trying to stifle his laughter from the corner of his eye. That damn traitor.

Ten minutes later in Erwin’s car, Levi was still annoyed. Erwin couldn’t help but be amused. “Oh, come on, Levi. Stop being angry. Your mom was just messing with you.”

“You’re an asshole for laughing. You’re supposed to be on my side.” He was staring angrily out of the window. Maybe he was being petty, but right now he didn’t give a fuck.

“Is this our first fight? Should I be worried?” Erwin couldn’t hide the teasing tone in his voice. He thought Levi was utterly adorable, pouting like that, but telling him would probably earn him a kick.

So the bastard wanted to play it this way then. Well two could play that game. “Yeah, very worried. We’re getting a divorce and since you’ve been an asshole I get to have your house.”

Erwin looked surprised for a moment until he saw the smirk on Levi’s face and burst out laughing. “You can have anything you want, but I need a place to sleep too I’m afraid.”

“Well maybe I can forgive you. But just this once.” Levi said teasingly.

“What a relief.” Erwin smiled and made a left turn and parked his car. “We’re here.”

Levi thought Erwin had gotten himself a nice home and he was happy for that. At least Erwin had been treated kindly by this new life. He took off his shoes and followed Erwin into the living room. They made out on the couch for a while and then watched a movie that they picked out together. They didn’t pay much attention to it, cause they kept stealing glances at each other and eventually decided to turn it off.

Levi told Erwin what they discovered in the basement and that it was just more hell and nothing good came out of it. His whole world view changed already on that roof. Living was hell and death was heaven. The contents of the basement only fuelled that belief.

“I won’t let anything take you away from me in this life. I swear if anyone is an asshole to you then they’re going to pay for that. You deserve happiness after everything you’ve been through.” Levi clung to him protectively. Things would be different in this life. He would make sure of that.

Erwin kissed his forehead and pulled him a little closer. “Same goes for you. You’ve been through so much too and I always admired your strength to go on. You were always stronger than me.”

Levi shook his head at that, disagreeing with him. “Don’t turn this into a contest. You were carrying so much weight on your shoulders and in the end I couldn’t do anything to ease that burden besides granting you rest. I didn’t regret that decision, but I always wondered if I could have done more for you. If maybe I had been better with words then I could have made at least your burdens easier.”

“You did so much for me, so don’t think you had any shortcomings on that. I think that no matter the choices we made our fates were already sealed in that terrible world. There was no happy ending for us possible.” He sighed at that, knowing that that world must have been doomed ever since Ymir Fritz became a titan.

Levi nodded solemnly at that, despite knowing that Erwin was probably right it still hurt. But maybe he should try to let go of it and live this life to the fullest, cause they never had the chance to actually do that. They were not living, but surviving.

“You know, we can spend the rest of this life feeling sorry for ourselves or we could actually make something out of it. I’m determined now that I’ve found you to just do things that make us happy and walk away from the things that don’t.”

Erwin couldn’t agree more. They really deserved it after everything. He just hoped everyone else was blessed with a new life too. “It’s refreshing to see you so positive. Just living in this world is already happiness. I’m determined to befriend Hanji and Moblit tomorrow, whether they recognise us or not.”

“Yeah, Hanji has always been a great friend and I wished I could have appreciated our friendship more before. She didn’t agree with me letting you rest, but she understood and respected it. When that kid transformed she didn’t even care. Titan obsessed Hanji, able to witness a once in a lifetime moment, didn’t even care, cause being with you in your final moments was way more important to her.” If it wasn’t for Hanji he would have probably lost it sooner than later.

“It must have been terrible for her too. She just lost Moblit and then she had to swallow back her desire to let me live while she could save me. I’m glad I chose her as my successor, but I wished the circumstances hadn’t been so terrible on her. She’s really strong and I’ve always been proud of her.” He really had to fight back the urge to not just run up to her tomorrow and hug her tight.

Levi still felt terrible for that. With his selfish decision he forced her to become Commander at her darkest point in life. She lost Moblit, she lost Erwin, she lost the sight in her eye, and to top it off, she had to deal with insubordination and a friend who let her down.

“I still feel guilty for that. I told her every time that you would be so proud of her when I noticed she was feeling down. When we got back at base after the mission we argued a lot about what happened, but we didn’t want to lose each other too, cause we only had each other.”

Erwin could understand that and was glad they at least had each other left. He would have felt terrible if they would resent each other for disagreeing about his fate. “We’re going to make sure she’s happy in this life. She really deserves it.”

“Moblit too. I just feel like I could have spent more time with him. He asked me out for drinks a lot of times, but I declined way too often. He probably thought I didn’t like him and only went along with him out of pity, because he was so stressed about Hanji.” Now that he thought about it, he really felt like an asshole. Moblit was one of the kindest and most selfless men in the Corps and he really felt he took him for granted.

Erwin petted his head, noticing his discomfort. “I understand what you mean. When he learned that I also like to draw in my spare time, he suggested that we could draw together sometimes. I said that I would like that, but in the end it never happened.”

“Well fuck. Looks like if they remember we have to give them a lot of hugs and apologies.” Levi sighed deeply and wondered if they remembered then would they even want them in their lives this time.

“We’re going to do everything we can to be the best friends we can be.” Erwin declared.

Levi agreed to that whole heartedly and then a yawn escaped him. It was getting late and if they wanted to set things right tomorrow then they better made their way to bed now. “Come on, let’s go to bed. The sooner it’s morning and then we can see them.”

Erwin nodded and got up. Before Levi had any chance to get up himself, Erwin had scooped him into his arms and carried him towards the bathroom. He wanted to yell in protest at first, but since there were no witnesses who could blackmail him with this embarrassing moment he let Erwin have his way. Erwin lowered him down again once they reached their destination and Levi called him a big sap.

They both started brushing their teeth and Levi couldn’t help but feel that he forgot about something important. He reached out to grab his meds but they weren’t there. “Fuck! I left my meds at home!”

Erwin looked at him a bit worried, cause Levi was starting to freak out about it. He placed his hands on his shoulders in an effort to calm him down. “Do you think you still need them now that you know it are memories? Maybe now that you understand everything, they will stop?”

That made him frown a bit. He of course hoped that Erwin was right, but he didn’t know for sure. A life without expensive meds sure sounded promising though. “We don’t know that for sure. Who knows, maybe you will get nightmares too now that you know everything.”

“Even if that’s the case then I think I wouldn’t use meds. Sure I might wake up in the middle of the night, but I know it can’t hurt me anymore.”

“So what you’re trying to say is that now that I know it are memories my mind is able to defend itself against it without meds?” That sounded like music to his ears, but he was still a bit sceptical. He had dealt with those nightmares for years after all and it was hard to believe they would just screw off.

“I think you should give it a try. Even if you wake up screaming I will be there for you to calm you down.” Erwin promised, fully aware of Levi’s worries.

Levi nodded then, agreeing on it. Hearing Erwin say that sure gave him resolve. As long as he had Erwin at his side then he could face this. So he cuddled up to Erwin and they went to sleep. They both slept peacefully for hours until Levi jolted awake. Erwin noticed it and sat up too, wrapping his arms around him and asking if he’s okay.

“Fucking Hanji…” Levi muttered.

“Huh?”

“Remember that time when Hanji thought it was a good idea to use fireworks and one of them nearly hit me? I jolted awake because of that.” Maybe he should strangle her tomorrow instead of hugging her.

Erwin couldn’t help but to laugh at that. Maybe it wasn’t a nice thing to do, but he was glad it wasn’t something traumatising, though Levi would probably argue with him on that and say that Hanji was the embodiment of trauma and just had to ask Moblit for confirmation on that.

“I’m sorry for laughing, but I’m glad you woke up from that and not something worse. Maybe you’re really free from the heavy nightmares.” He kissed the raven’s frowning head and motioned for him to lie down again.

Maybe Erwin was right. It was already late in the night and usually he would have woken up screaming at least two times by now and that was when he took his meds, so this was actually starting to look good. “I hope you’re right. Let’s get back to sleep now.”

The rest of the night went by peacefully and for the first time in a very long time Levi actually felt well rested. After washing up, getting dressed and having breakfast they left for work together. Erwin had taken plenty of pictures of them together eating breakfast and Levi loved them all. They were doing actual couple things and it made him really happy even though all the pictures looked ridiculous. But they looked real, none of them were putting up any masks. There were genuine emotions on their faces and that’s what made the pictures precious.

They arrived at school early and walked inside. Levi looked around to see if he could spot Moblit or Hanji, but Hanji probably didn’t come early, judging by her running through the hallways yesterday and yelling about being late. Now that he thought of it they didn’t really have a plan to approach them. If they didn’t recognise them then it might even be kinda creepy if they just walked up to them without a good reason.

“So, what’s the plan? We can’t just walk up to them and ask them if they remember us. If they don’t remember then they will think we’re nuts.” He was starting to feel nervous about it, if he was being honest.

“Maybe they’re thinking the same thing. They might have their memories and wonder if we remember too. We just have to be brave and walk up to them. How about we just introduce ourselves and then subtly call each other Captain and Commander?” Erwin suggested. There wasn’t much else they could try without raising suspicion.

“If you think that will work. If they don’t get it we can pretend we knew each other in childhood and used to play army games and called each other that and it stuck.” Now this could actually work. He of course hoped they would recognise them and it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Alright, then it’s settled. Now all we have to do is find them and hope for the best.” Erwin really hoped everything would go well. He wasn’t sure if he could hide the disappointment if they didn’t recognise them.

They lingered by the entrance in hope of catching them before classes would start. If that wouldn’t work out then they would try to talk to them at lunch, but then it would be hard to talk about certain things, cause the staff room would be full of other people too. Luckily they didn’t have to wait until lunch as the both of them were walking towards the entrance side by side.

Erwin took that as a good sign, seeing them together. That meant they must have either befriended each other yesterday or got their memories back just like them and decided to pick up where they left off in their previous life. He hoped for the latter of course, but even if it was the first then he was glad they at least had found each other somehow.

He approached them with Levi at his side and they stopped talking immediately once they noticed the two men. “Hi, I’m Erwin Smith and this is Levi Ackerman. We were wondering if you would like to have some coffee or tea with us in the staff room. We would like to get to know more people. Isn’t that right, Captain?”

Levi nodded to show his agreement and then eyed them carefully. They were clearly thinking and eyeing each other. Now he had to finish it. “That would be nice indeed, Commander.”

Hanji looked at Moblit for a few seconds, needing confirmation that her hearing wasn’t playing tricks on her. Moblit gave her a nod and then stared at Erwin and Levi with his mouth hanging slightly open. After a silence that seemed to last way too long for comfort, Hanji finally opened her mouth.

“You… remember too, don’t you? The titans and everything else?” She could barely believe it.

The uneasy feeling left Levi immediately after hearing Hanji say those words. She remembered. “We do and we’re so glad you do too.” He could barely finish his sentence before she launched herself at him and hugged him tight. “Four eyes! Take it easy! I want to breathe!”

She let go of him then and proceeded in hugging Erwin tight. “I’m sorry! I’m just so happy that you both remember too!”

Erwin smiled at that and hugged her back. “We are too. We were a little worried that we were the only ones. It’s fantastic that we’ve found each other again in this life.”

Levi couldn’t help but smile at her interactions. She hadn’t changed a bit. Then his eyes fell on Moblit, who just stood there, not really knowing what to do. Fuck. They were leaving him out again and it made him feel terrible. He walked over to him quickly and wrapped his arms around him.

Moblit looked shocked for a moment before he returned the hug. “L-Levi…?”

“Moblit, listen. Erwin and me both feel shitty that we took your efforts to be friends for granted, so now we want to let you know that you’re amazing. You’re one of the kindest and selfless people we’ve ever met and we hope that you still want to be friends with us. We love you, Moblit.” He held onto him a little tighter to make sure it really came across.

Moblit was speechless for a while, but then he smiled. “It’s okay. We all made mistakes in that life, but now we can set them right. I’m happy to be your friend. Really, really happy.”

Erwin hugged Moblit then too. “If your offer still stands then I would love to draw together sometime. A lot of sometimes actually. Of course other things would be great too.”

Moblit’s smile grew wider then, hugging Erwin back tightly. “Yes! Of course it still stands!”

Levi smiled at them. He couldn’t be more happy. “If you’re ever done with four eyes then we should go and grab some drinks. Erwin can be really tiresome too, so I could use the alcohol as well.”

“Hey!” Both Erwin and Hanji yelled at them.

They all had to laugh then, cause they were just being ridiculous. It was like they never were apart to begin with. They never wanted to be apart again. The moments they spent in each other’s company really were the best. Even though it wasn’t as carefree as they wished and sometimes strained cause of their minds always drifting off to their responsibilities, it was still good. But now it would be far better than they could ever hope for.

“You know, I actually do remember some times that the four of us were all having fun together.” Hanji stated. “Whenever one of us had their birthday we celebrated big. Maybe it’s all a little fuzzy cause we always got drunk off our asses.”

Moblit nodded in agreement. “There have been more times besides birthdays, so guys please don’t feel bad anymore.”

“Yeah, and now we can make this a fun life! Do everything we always dreamed of and fulfil our promises.” Hanji added. “Speaking of promises, Levi, did you already tell Erwin?”

Erwin looked confused at the both of them, wondering what they were talking about. “What do you mean, Hanji?”

“After we returned from Shiganshina we were both pretty done, cause life had taken away so much from us. Levi hated the fact that despite all his power he could do nothing to give you the life you deserved so much. I felt awful cause Moblit had given his life for me and I never told him how much he means to me. So we both vowed that if we got another chance at life we would tell you about the feelings we kept inside back then.” She explained and took Moblit’s hand.

Moblit squeezed her hand gently and smiled at her. “When we ran into each other yesterday she stuck to that vow and confessed her feelings to me. I always thought that if the time ever came that I would be the one to confess.”

“I’ve been an oblivious idiot for so long and a coward too.” Hanji stated, slightly regretful. “I’ve always been scared of falling in love cause of the lives we had. It could end any day and I was afraid of the pain that would come when life would take that person away from me. But when you died in that explosion I knew what that pain felt like even though we never confessed.”

Moblit wrapped his other arm around her waist, not used to such emotional monologues from her.

“I realised then that a confession was never necessary and that all those years that I tried to convince myself that I wouldn’t fall in love were a lie. Even though our mouths hadn’t spoken the words our hearts silently did. The pain I felt when you died made me realise that I wished we could have held each other and dared to defy the terrible odds of that world.”

They all were speechless for a moment then, cause Hanji had just perfectly summed up what they all thought. Life had been cruel back then, but maybe they should have tried to defy the odds a bit and be selfish for once. They had all learned from it however and would live life to the fullest this time.

“That’s deep coming from you, four eyes. Now you better don’t start crying and get your yucky snot on us.” Levi tried to lighten the mood with that, even though he was serious about the snot.

Hanji immediately brightened up at that. “Don’t worry, Levi. I already cried on Moblit yesterday, so you’re safe.”

“Gross.” He knew he was being a hypocrite, cause he had cried on Erwin too, but she didn’t need to know that.

“But did you tell him, Levi? Come on, spit it out.” She was starting to become impatient now. She just wanted them to be happy too.

“I did and now we’re happy and in love. Satisfied now?” Levi rolled his eyes at the squealing sounds she made at that.

“Definitely!” She beamed.

“Good.” He shifted awkwardly on his spot. He still wanted to apologise to her, even though he had already done so back then. “Hanji, I know I’ve said it before but I really am sorry for forcing you to become Commander after all that happened.”

Hanji smiled softly at him. She didn’t need another apology, but she still appreciated it. “Don’t worry about it anymore. Life was cruel back then and I knew the day would eventually come, even though I hoped it wouldn’t. I hated the circumstances, but after we had that talk I knew it wasn’t easy for you either. I knew you didn’t want to hurt me.”

“Fuck, of course not. If I ever hurt you, you can smack me in the face. I want you all to live a happy life this time.”

“We want the same for you, short stack. Together we will make it happen.” She hugged him tightly again and he hugged back, glad everything was okay now.

“Now that we’ve had all the lovey dovey shit and drama out of the way we can discuss other matters. Four eyes, what the fuck are you wearing?” Levi said and pointed at her outfit.

“A lab coat? I’m a science teacher, you know.” Hanji huffed.

“I don’t mean the coat, I mean your footwear. Also three pairs of glasses? Really? Is your sight even shittier in this world?”

“So mean…” She pouted. “They’re just really comfy and I need different glasses for my job. I have my regular glasses, and two different pairs of lab glasses. How about your outfit? You don’t look like a teacher to me, you look more like a janitor.”

Levi’s face darkened slightly at that. He knew he had it coming, since he started it, but even though he had accepted that he couldn’t be a teacher it still wasn’t nice to be reminded of it constantly. “I am the janitor and it’s fine with me. Or don’t you want to be seen with the janitor?”

“What? No! I mean I don’t mind you’re the janitor. I was just curious about your clothes.” Hanji explained a bit wide-eyed.

Levi then explained everything about the nightmares and how much it had fucked up his life. Hanji and Moblit were kind of shocked and sad to hear that. They wished their friend didn’t have to go through such hardships again. Levi assured them he was okay with it and that Erwin made sure they never had to worry about money, so he could always choose a different path later on, if he so desired.

“I’m glad to hear your nightmares seem to have disappeared now.” Moblit shivered at the thought of having to see all of those things and not being able to realise it were memories.

They all smiled at each other, happy to see each other happy in this life. They were shaken up by the sound of the bell however.

Hanji looked slightly panicked at hearing the bell. “Oh, shit! I’m going to be late two days in a row! If the principal finds out I’ll be in trouble!”

Levi couldn’t help but smirk at that. “You know it’s my duty to escort latecomers to the principal. He was talking about students, but I’m sure we can make an exception just for you.”

“You’re such a meanie!” Hanji pouted.

“We better hurry to class though.” Erwin suggested. It would be embarrassing if Levi really did decide to escort them to Zackly. “We will see each other at lunch and then we can make plans for something nice to do together.”

They all agreed to that and hurried to their classes after some hugs and kisses. Levi made his way over to the supply closet with a smile on his face. Two days ago he wondered why he even bothered with this life anymore and now he had everything he could have ever hoped for. A job, his friends and the love of his life. He couldn’t wait for lunchtime today and was glad he didn’t have to hide in his office anymore. No, he decided that he could face everything now that he had those three back in his life. He didn’t care what their plans would be for after school as long as they would be together.

His mother would probably be overjoyed too, hearing that he had found friends. Or better said; regained them. He would make sure to take a picture of the four of them at lunch and send it to her, so that she could share his happiness. He didn’t want her to think that he didn’t need her anymore. Without her he wouldn’t have been alive. He didn’t just mean that she gave birth to him, but her love had always kept him going and made him a fighter in both lives, even though he sometimes felt like giving up.

So during lunch he made the picture and she texted back how happy she was for him and that left a pleasant feeling inside of him for the rest of the day. He even didn’t yell at the brats skateboarding in the hallways. He just politely told them to stop it and that he would let it slide just this once. He must be getting soft, he thought, but nothing could ruin his good mood.

He didn’t have to worry about them having to wait on him, cause he still had to clean the classrooms after school, since they had some things to take care of too. They had planned to crash at Erwin’s place and just have a good time and he was looking forward to it. When he was done with his cleaning, he made his way over to the entrance of the building where he could see Moblit and Hanji holding hands and Erwin smiling brightly as soon as he spotted him making his way over to them.

He would have giving everything for that smile in their previous lives, since it was so rare to witness. Now however, Erwin didn’t have a single worry on his mind and the smile seemed to be ever present on his handsome face. He supposed the same thing applied to him too. He was smiling a lot more too already than he ever did back then.

Yes, life was smiling at them now and they saw no reason not to smile back. Maybe the love story between Captain and Commander ended in tragedy, but Levi knew for sure as Erwin took his hand, that the love story between janitor and history teacher would become as beautiful and magical as a fairy tale.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :) If you find any typos please let me know, so I can fix them.


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